Best Buy launches home fitness products

Author

Published

Share it

Dive Brief:

Best Buy on Tuesday announced a new fitness collection featuring products from companies like Flywheel Sports, NormaTec, Hyperice, Hydrow and NordicTrack, according to a company press release.

The collection is currently available on BestBuy.com. The retailer plans to introduce fitness spaces in over 100 stores by the end of 2019, per the release.

Best Buy employees and in-home advisors will receive training to help customers select products, and the retailer's Geek Squad will manage delivery and installation of purchases. Members of Best Buy's Total Tech Support program will receive 20% off services.

Dive Insight:

Best Buy's latest product debut reveals a further push into the health and fitness space.

Last summer, the retailer made the surprising move to acquire health and safety solutions company GreatCall for $800 million. GreatCall offers health and emergency response services to the aging population. At that time, the company stated that, "The health space is a large, growing market where technology can help in particular address the needs of aging consumers, their caregivers, payers and providers."

Then, in April, Best Buy announced that it was expanding its reach into healthcare with sales of the TytoHome medical device. The product allows consumers to measure health information including body temperature, upper respiratory recordings and throat scans, and send the data collected to a physician.

A new suite of tech-heavy health products expands Best Buy's brand recognition beyond selling televisions and computers and closer aligns it with a wellness strategy. Products available include a Flywheel Home Bike priced at $2,248 that includes live or on-demand classes, the NormaTec PULSE 2.0 Recovery System, which uses technology to increase blood circulation and reduce soreness, and the Hydrow rowing machine priced at $2,199 that includes 24-hour access to classes and tracks progress in real time.

Other retailers are also furthering a commitment to wellness through strategic partnerships and by relinquishing space to healthcare efforts. CVS recently revealed a plan to open 1,500 HealthHUB stores by the end of 2021, a concept focused on health services including preventative care and wellness activities. Walgreens stated that it will pilot up to 12 "digital health corners" this year to promote healthcare-related hardware and devices. And in March, Kohl's announced that it is opening 10 Planet Fitness locations adjacent to stores with an eye toward launching additional locations in the future.